This invention relates to an improved value printing device such as for use in a postage meter or register, and, more particularly, to such a device having improved apparatus for detachably coupling a housing with an inking roller to a reciprocal carriage, and for permitting the convenient removal of the housing and inking roller from the carriage.
Cross reference is hereby made to a copending patent application assigned to the same assignee as this application entitled: "Value Printing Device Warning Function For Replacing An Inking Member" by D. Buan et al, Ser. No. 334,934, filed on Dec. 28, 1981. Cross reference is also made to two U.S. Patents assigned to the same assignee as this application. The first is U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,491 entitled: "System For Sensing An Inking Member In A Value Printing Device" by D. Buan et al, and the second patent is U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,031 entitled "Disposable Self-Contained Cartridge For Value Printing Device" by D. Buan. Cross reference is also made to the copending application, assigned to the same assignee as this application, entitled "Inker Mounting Arrangement For a Value Printing Device" D. Buan and A. Eckert U.S. application Ser. No. 593,222, filed on Mar. 27, 1984. These patents and applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
Value printing devices such as postage meters, labeling apparatus, registers and the like are constructed to print information to a surface such as a mailpiece by contacting the surface with inked print characters. Generally, the print characters are raised against the background of a printing head. In such systems, the inking typically occurs immediately prior to the printing event.
In a postage meter, for example, relative movement occurs between the inking roller and the print characters so that the movement is capable of permitting contact therebetween and, consequently, the inking of the characters. Inking rollers normally contain their own inking supply. While various inventive aspects which follow are described in connection with commercially available postage meters, it will be understood that such aspects apply equally to any printing device with like characteristics.
In rotary head postage meters and registers such as Pitney-Bowes' Models 5300, 6300 and 6500 meters, the print characters are contained on a rotary printing head which revolves relative to a stationery inking roller during the print cycle. When the raised print characters encounter the inking roller, they make contact and, thus, are inked.
In so called flat-bed postage meters, such as a Pitney-Bowes' Model 5700 Series meter, the print characters are contained on a horizontal flat printing head. In the print cycle, the inking roller and its support carriage are moved across the print characters immediately prior to printing. The characters remain stationary during both inking and printing. The mailpiece to be marked, or have postage applied thereto, is raised rapidly against the printhead with enough force to effect the desired marking. After printing and removal of the mailpiece, the inking roller moves back across the printing head to its original rest or home position.
The invention described in this patent application can apply to both rotary and flat-bed postage meters and registers. For the purpose of convenience, the present invention is described specifically with regard to a flat-bed Pitney-Bowes' Model 5700 Series meter which has a well-known configuration and has been available commercially for some time.
Various aspects of this type of postage meter have been described in prior patents. These include U.S. Pat. No. 3,069,084 relating to a registering mechanism, U.S. Pat. No. 3,244,096 relating to an imprinting machine with controlled imprinting force, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,310,139 relating to a drive system. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 3,143,963 is of note in that it relates to an apparatus for limiting the number of cycles of a postage meter in accordance with the capacity of the inking roller and, thereafter, rendering the inking roller unfit for use in the postage meter.
The prior art devices use drive mechanisms for their carriages, cartridges, housings, inking rollers, and so forth which are fairly expensive, and quite heavy. In addition, they require precise manufacturing tolerances, take up a relatively large amount of space, and employ large stepping motors. The prior art devices are improved in the present invention due to the various improved parts, constructions, arrangements of elements and the like.